In early March, Andre Johnson became a Texans employee. Again.
For the past two years, Johnson was around the organization on a routine basis. He was a regular at NRG Stadium on game days. He traveled with the team to a handful of road contests.
But after a 14-year Hall of Fame-worthy career, with the first dozen spent in Houston, Johnson's back with the Texans in the role of Special Advisor to the Head Coach and General Manager. He has an office phone number. A work email address. The greatest offensive player in franchise history, and the lone member of the Houston Texans Ring of Honor even has a cubicle in the front office.
His presence in the building is a welcome one, especially to head coach Bill O'Brien and general manager Brian Gaine.
"I felt like he could help us as an advisor, maybe help Brian with some scouting responsibilities, help me with some team-building responsibilities, and then help the players," O'Brien said Tuesday at the NFL Annual League Meeting. "He'll be around. It was just something that Andre and I talked a lot about and we were able to put something together."
O'Brien explained that Johnson's love for the game wasn't extinguished when he retired in 2016.
"Andre and I kept in touch after he was done playing and he was doing a lot relative to football, O'Brien said. "He was doing some things in our organization in the community and things like that, and he had worked at the NFLPA game and had coached a little bit, scouted a little bit. We were talking and he came in the office a couple times and we had long talks about what he wanted to do next."
Johnson’s getting inducted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Waco. He's the first Texans player to make it.
The Texans begin offseason conditioning on April 15 at NRG Stadium.
Check out the 80 best photos of Andre Johnson throughout his Houston Texans career.
